ATLA Book Two: Earth
Chapter Nine: Bitter Work
In Which Momo tries to catch a frog, Sokka makes a new friend, and Aang meditates passive-aggressively.
“Bitter work” is structured in the Gaang A plot/ Zuko B plot style, marking a return to the traditional Book Two episode type after three episodes that deliberately eschew that structure. “The Blind Bandit” focuses solely on the Gaang, “Zuko Alone does the same for Zuko, and “The Chase” brings both groups together for the first time in the season. And for the first time since “The Storm”, the episode really explores many character parallels and contrasts in depth, making use of the parallel plot structure. After the intense action of “The Chase”, we get an episode that is low on incident, and heavy on thematic exploration and dialogue. The show slows the pace of the episode right down to really get a feel for the struggles of Aang and Zuko. Having mentioned “The Chase”, it is worth expanding on my claim that that episode functions as the centre point of the show, the part where the first half is wrapped up and we start to move towards the endgame. All the episodes from “The Chase” to “The Drill”, the last episode before the Ba Sing Se arc gets moving, function in the same way. In “The Swamp”, Iroh sang the words “It’s a long long way to Ba Sing Se”, and that journey to the Earth Kingdom capital makes up the middle act of Book Two, and the centre point of the show.
But before we get into the centre of the episode, it is
important to talk about two big Iroh scenes at the beginning of the episode,
both of which are crucial to our understanding of his character. The first is
Iroh’s dream of Lu Ten’s childhood and death, the scene that kicks off his and
Zuko’s B plot (and I’m only calling it a B plot for the sake of convenience,
for the first time this season, it holds just as much narrative weight as the
Gaang’s “A Plot”). These memories are particularly crucial to Iroh’s
characterisation, as they give us a rare glimpse of his inner world. Iroh’s
grief for his son is in his subconscious after his near death experience,
acting as a reminder of the way this grief is constantly bubbling just beneath
the surface of his character. We also get our first glimpse of Lu Ten’s Grave,
which will reappear later in “The Tales of Ba Sing Se”.
From the beautiful and moving material Iroh is giving, to the slightly more troubling, in the form of Iroh’s claim that Azula is “crazy, and she needs to go down”. It could be argued that Iroh realises there is nothing he can do for Azula, who was not cast out of the Fire Nation like Zuko, so remains under the toxic influence of Ozai. As a result, there is, again arguably, nothing Iroh can do for her and so he seemingly decides all he can do is help Zuko stop her causing more harm, and I imagine this is what Bryke were going for. But it is still a problematic line, with Iroh simplifying Azula as terrifyingly “crazy”, a judgement that is particularly troubling in the light of Azula’s eventual mental breakdown. Furthermore, it is another example of the hypocritical double standard Iroh shows in his attitude towards Azula compared to his guiding of Zuko on his road to redemption. And the real problem lies in the fact that the show doesn’t acknowledge this as a character flaw: as lokgifsandmusings puts it: “Bryke didn’t realise they created a problematic fave, not a cinnamon roll”. The moment is meant to be comedic, a surprise breakaway from Iroh’s expected position of advising reconciliation, but it is instead a moment where Iroh treats Azula, who is just as affected by Ozai’s abusive influence as Zuko, as unworthy of redemption. Iroh’s double standard towards Azula could work if it was acknowledged as a character flaw, but it is not, so is instead just a flaw in his characterisation.
Moving to the heart of the episode, it is worth focussing on the character parallels. But instead of focussing on the parallels between Aang and Zuko that is the driving force of this episode, it first useful to focus on the Parallels between their teachers. The first of these comes in the continuation of the Iroh and Katara Parallels. When Aang is upset about his struggles, Katara takes Aang away from Earthbending to focus on waterbending, which he is good at, in order to rebuild his confidence, and uses the practise as a quiet moment to give him some advice and listen to his problems, while taking time to praise the growth in his waterbending. Iroh helps Zuko in a similar way, distracting him from his failure to learn lightning bending by showing him a new, unique skill that Zuko gets to feel better about himself for knowing, and will be just as useful as lightning bending would have been. Redirecting lightning is arguably more useful than creating it for someone as impulsive as Zuko: it is a defensive skill, used for protection and preservation, not something to attack and harm others.
The episode also draws some fascinating contrasts between
Katara and Toph. These contrasts lead to character development for Toph, as she
learns how to be a teacher, and also develops her relationship with Katara,
with Katara helping her by showing Toph how to teach Aang. It is nice to see a
positive relationship quickly established between the two female regulars,
particularly as their first episode together focussed on the conflict between
their characters, even if that conflict led to them starting to respect one
another. In a useful subversion of the toxic “All women are catty” trope, Toph
quickly takes Katara’s advice: in the initial training montage, she is tough
but actually encouraging to Aang when he does well. However, Toph only truly
embraces Katara’s “positive reinforcement” as a teaching style at the end of
the episode, and when she does so, she does it in her own way, framing her
praise of Aang as a way of bigging up her own status of being more terrifying
than a ferocious beast. She changes by reshaping her teaching style rather than
abandoning it altogether.
As well developing Katara’s relationship with Toph, the
episode sees a further shift in Katara’s relationship with Aang. He learns to
treat Katara as his teacher as well as his peer, something her hasn’t fully
done yet because he has a mental adjustment to make. Katara was his friend and
peer before she was his teacher. In fact, Aang was slightly ahead of her as a
waterbender for much of Book One due to his natural talent, and was the person who
could help her learn by being the means by which she found a teacher. This is
different to Toph, who Katara notices he immediately calls “Sifu”: Aang met
Toph and she joined the group as his teacher, with that always being the role
he expected her to perform. However, after the advice Katara gives him, Aang
takes a moment to appreciate what she’s done for him, and, by way of thanks, duly
acknowledges her role as his teacher.
But as I said earlier, the driving force of the episode lies in the parallels between Aang and Zuko, with the episode really focussing on their struggle to grow in their hero’s journeys, and the titular bitter work they go through to learn those skills. Both boys struggle with the new skills they seek to learn: Aang with Earthbending, and Zuko with Lightningbending. Aang’s struggle partly invokes the idea of elemental opposition of Air and Earth, but the episode also makes it clear the issue is more to do with Aang’s personality not being suited to Earth. He is not confrontational, so struggles with this element, which requires him to face his problems head on. Aang’s problems here set up Korra’s struggle with airbending in Book One of “Legend of Korra”, as air is not the opposite of her native element, but the skills required for airbending are the opposite of her personality. Aang’s struggles also contrast to Iroh, who invents redirection of lightning by studying waterbenders, masters of the opposite bending Art to the one he knows, further proof that the binaries set up between different elements are far more nuanced than they first appear. Zuko’s struggle with Lightning bending both parallels and contrasts with Aang’s struggle to Earth bend. Zuko’s struggles are a product of his mental anguish cannot be cool and calm like Azula, or reach a state of inner peace like Iroh, so he is unable to lightning bend, a contrast to Aang, who is ultimately able to overcome his earthbending block.
The subtle differences in their struggles mean Aang and Zuko find different solutions to their difficulties learning. Where Aang learns to confront Toph instead of avoiding his struggles with his lesson, he is able to summon the resources to Earthbend. By contrast, the deep rooted nature of Zuko’s trauma means he is unable to lightning bend, so he instead learns an alternative skill to combat Azula’s lightning bending. The new skills both boys learn are vital to the culmination of their character arcs. Aang uses the seismic sense that stems from his Earthbending lessons to stop Ozai, while Zuko uses redirection of lightning to save Katara from Azula. The ultimate importance of the lessons learned in these episodes increase the sense that this episode is part of the still point in the middle of the show, laying the big structural ground for the finale.
But the key part of the episode comes in the adjacent scenes in the middle. In the first scene, Katara and Aang discuss the opposition of Air and Earth, a scene which is followed by Iroh and Zuko’s discussion of the four nations, their culture and nature.
Firstly, let’s look at Katara and Aang’s discussion about
the opposition of Air and Earth:
“Katara: You know this
block you're having is only temporary, right?
Aang: I don't want to
talk about it.
Katara: You do realize
that's the problem, don't you? If you face this issue instead of avoiding it–
Aang: I know, I know,
I know, I know! I get it, all right? I need to face it head on like a rock, but
I just can't do it. I don't know why I can't, but I can't.
Katara: Aang, if fire and water are
opposites, then what's the opposite of air?
Aang: I guess it's
earth.
Katara: That's why
it's so difficult for you to get this. You're working with your natural
opposite. But you'll figure it out. I know you will.”
Aang’s mental block is
rooted in his need to better understand the elements, to get a grasp on what
makes Earth and Air opposites. Earth grounded in the material aspects of the
world, the concrete, whereas air represents freedom, detachment from worldly
concerns. And while Aang is supposed to be neutral to all the nations, he is
the last airbender, so he is uniquely attached to the culture and attitudes of
the Air Nation, which he fights to maintain. As a result, he is so woven into
the culture of his home nation by grief and loss, it is particularly hard for him
to understand Earth Nation culture and fighting styles.
As for Iroh’s four nations lecture, it’s best to use the quote itself, because it is beautiful:
Iroh: Fire is the
element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the
energy to drive and achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance.
The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and
enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves
from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had
pretty good senses of humour! Water is the element of change. The people of the
Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of
community and love that holds them together through anything.
Zuko: Why are you
telling me these things?
Iroh: It is important
to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place,
it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the
other nations will help you become whole.
The speech sees a return to Book Two’s “Everything is
connected” theme, with Iroh showing how the separation of the nations is linked
to rigidity and corruption. Separation is described as something limiting on a
global and personal scale: Aang needs to master all four elements, and he and
Zuko need to understand all four nations so that they can make themselves
whole, and in doing so, come together to help rebuild the world.
The final scenes show a contrast between the mental states, and positions in their journeys, of Aang and Zuko. Aang reaches an emotional high point, overcoming a particularly difficult obstacle in his hero’s journey to learn a vital skill. By contrast, we see Zuko still unable to overcome his grief, guilt, and self-hatred. For all that I described redirecting lightning as defensive, Zuko wants to use it to throw destruction and rage back at the world: he is still ultimately driven by his inner turmoil.
End of Part Twenty Seven.
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